European Union Pushes for Ban on Shark Finning

If European Parliament approves the ban, fishermen will have to land sharks with their fins intact.

Twelve years after the US government passed similar legislation, European Union fishery officials are urging the European Parliament to approve a proposed ban on shark finning, a practice wherein fishermen remove conscious sharks’ fins before throwing the fishes back into the ocean to die. Shark fins, the primary ingredient in shark-fin soup, are a valuable international commodity due to the dish’s association with wealth and opulence. As a result, more than 70 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. The proposal, which would require all EU-registered boats across the globe to land sharks with their fins intact, is reportedly facing opposition from France and Spain, both of which are heavily involved with the shark-fin trade.

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